Learn phrasal verbs to improve your conversational English! I call on you to learn these common expressions that you can use in your personal, social, and professional life. I’ll teach you these phrasal verbs in a fun way, with many examples, so that you remember them and will be able to start using them right after the lesson. Looking for more phrasal verb lessons? Watch my lesson on phrasal verbs with ‘set’ next.

Hi Adam sir. Thank you for this wonderful lesson. Its difficult for me as I scored 6/10. I am not satisfied but I will surely work hard on my grammar. Plus now I am able to improve my vocabulary. Thank you so much once again👍

Thanks for the lesson. But I have one question apart from this lesson. please, rectify me without failed. What are the differences in this adjective and noun.1. governmental department or government’s department or government department. Which one is right or wrong .please…. clarify for me.

Thursday, August 18th 2016

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Hi Kelvin,

Governmental department means the one that is government related (as opposed to other departments that are not government related). The government’s department can mean the one that belongs to them, or that it’s their issue, not anyone else’s. Government department just describes the department. Essentially, all three can be correct, depending on context. Look at the whole sentence and see what the function needs to be.

This is a great lesson again, thank you. I am so glad to know that we can call on you for help. This video calls me back when I was at school and had to study phrasal verbs for the test. If I have problems of grammar, I will call in a specialist (you).

Hello Mr Adem , Thank you so much to make these video , I have an issue with ( Off and Up ) where may i use them and how , Tank you so much and just leave the video about them .

Sunday, August 21st 2016

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Hi Samirpro,

It might be a whole for that video, so for now, off means leaving another place (get off the table) or shutting down something (turn off the radio), etc. Up is a direction (jump up)but has lots of other applications as well when combined with verbs.

At 2:13 you said, “So this job is going to call on our energy, all our brains, all our confidence…”

In that case, how is “call on” any different from “call for?”

Sunday, August 21st 2016

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Hi Unpredictablecro,

Yes, they are very similar, but call on is an active demand, meaning you take what you need (e.g., you call on your brain, means you activate your brain for the situation). Call for is more a state, a requirement created by the situation (this problem calls for some serious solution, so we will need to call on our brains for help).

Hi Adam. Thank you for this helpful lesson. Phrasal verbs is a very important topic if you want to learn English a second language.

I have a doubt in a question from the quiz I want you to clarify. question #4, the answer is ‘in’, but I thought it’s more suitable for, because it’s a special situacion that requires a specialist. I chose ‘in’ because there’s no for on the list. In the #3 question I chose ‘in’ and was the opposite. I didn’t choose for, because I didn’t find a special situacion bacause it’s normal that some jobs require skilled workers.

I thank you again for this lesson.
Best regards!

Sunday, August 21st 2016

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Hi Ramiro,

Keep in mind the actual definitions. In #4 our technicians can’t do it so we will have to bring a specialist to do it. call in = bring.

In #3, the situation requires something– there is no action. It is a condition.

Thanks, Adam.
I want to ask a question.
Sometimes students miss some questions when they do their homework, can I say ‘do back the missing questions’? ‘do back’ is it correct? If not, what phrase can I say?

Monday, August 22nd 2016

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Sorry, one more question.
‘staple a paper in the book’
preposition ‘in’ is it correct?

I agree with all who says that’s a great video!! But I’ve got a lot of questions, because I listened to Adam’s video for more than 50 times. So, the first thing that bothers me is the word “niche” in “If I need to do something taht’s very, very expert or very very niche, I might.” What is the meaning of this adjective??? I’ve never heard it before.

Sunday, August 28th 2016

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That’s a good question!

A niche, literally, is a kind of hole or hollow, like a crack in a rock, or in a wall for a statue to sit in. In biology, it means the particular role an organism fills in its ecosystem. Figuratively it means something small to fit into.

As an adjective or modifier, “niche” means “narrow” or “specialized”. Something that is “niche” appeals to few people. If your business is selling clothes for people who are 2m or taller, you have a “niche market”. If you have an unusual hobby or skill, like solving giant Rubik’s Cubes, it’s a “niche interest”.

In the video Adam says “Your son or daughter comes home from school they get the mail from their college they applied to” or “Your son or daughter comes home from school TO GET the mail from their college they applied to”?

Another question is about Past Simple Adam used… Adam said … “So, this morning, I woke up, I’m sneezing, I have a fever.” I thought when the morning is not over (and it’s not over, because you usually call in sick in the morning, before your job starts) you have to use Present Perfect not Past Simple? Thanks for your answer!

If I call in a specialist does it necessarily mean that he or she comes to my place? For example if I call in Dr. House, does this sentence mean that he comes to my place?

Monday, August 29th 2016

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In spoken English, we often take short cuts. You need to pay attention to pauses and intonation to understand changes in focus, timing, etc. I can set up the context in the first (when they get home… then they get the mail… etc.). Same for this morning. I established the time (past, this morning) and then I put myself in the context and make it present continuous. You can’t do this in writing, but in speaking it’s quite common.

Call in means bring, but to the place you need him/her, not necessarily your home.

As always a great lesson! I’d like to suggest an explanation about meaning and uses of thy, thou and thee. I note those expressions in some places, such Canada’s national anthem! I wish all the best for all of you! Hugs

Monday, August 29th 2016

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Hi Samisra,

These are very old-fashioned terms meaning “you” in different levels of respect. I wouldn’t worry about these as they are not used now.

Adam, I found your site very fruitful to me. I want to improve my English further especially in the speaking part. Could you tell me the place where I can talk live in the internet, please. Many many thanks to you and your team for such a great effort of teaching english all around the world. keep it up.

Saturday, September 3rd 2016

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Thank you Pratap,

To be honest, you’ll probably need to find a teacher to speak with you. As far as chatting sites, there aren’t any that I know of, but I will keep an eye out and let you know.

Thank you so much ADAM…
my english is better now, I hope… but my english is different, I spoke different, like the letter T, or some worlds, I do not how to say, but in my language is like
Better – Berer
Better – BeTTer – NOW

Thanks Adam.you explain well. i just startup on your website so i am now beginner. but i want to tell you something about your example should be similar type of sentence to make a better difference between words.

Hi! Adam.I`m korean boy ,so I want to be speaking english well. But I know this online of my friend.So, I felt I speaking,writing,and meaning. Thank you Adam. And I subscribe your youtube! Oh,my name is Kim Hyung Jun,and juniyni.Thank you~.
11/18

Hello Adam，
I’m an English beginner. I can’t fully understand your explanations about the phrasal verbs, because there are some new words in it and your speaking is fast for me. Could you please write some example sentances on the board for each phrasal verb? It will help me understand them clearly. Thanks.

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Learn English for free with 1063 video lessons by experienced native-speaker teachers. Classes cover English grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, IELTS, TOEFL, and more. Join millions of ESL students worldwide who are improving their English every day with engVid.

Learn English for free with 1063 video lessons by experienced native-speaker teachers. Classes cover English grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, IELTS, TOEFL, and more. Join millions of ESL students worldwide who are improving their English every day with engVid.